Princess Eugenie Opens Up About Her Childhood Scoliosis Operation, and Says That It Left Her “Reeling” and Empty

When Princess Eugenie got married in October, she made a major statement with her back-baring dress, which showed off the large scar she has from her childhood scoliosis operation. Eugenie was proud to show off the scar on her big day, but it wasn’t always like that.

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In a new interview with The Telegraph, Eugenie opens up about what it was like to be diagnosed with scoliosis at age 11, and it sounds like was a traumatic time in her life. During the operation to correct scoliosis, the spine is broken and set straight, which takes months to recover from and means that the patient basically needs to learn how to walk again.

Eugenie was worried that the surgery would mean that she wouldn’t been seen as “normal” by her peers, sharing, “I think the most upsetting time was before the operation–the fear of the unknown and having a condition that made me different…I was only 11 years old when I was told I needed surgery and that bombshell left me reeling, as well as the idea that I would not be at school, or be normal like the other students.”

After the operation, Eugenie found the long recover process “frustrating” and says, “I remember being angry about not being able to run and play.” And even years later, the ways that her condition changed how she moved still majorly affected her—”I remember putting cream only on my scar for years after the operation,” Eugenie says. “There was an unexplainable feeling–like a kind of emptiness.”

Now, of course, her scar is “a point of pride” and Eugenie has learned to embrace her story after seeing that it can help others going through their own struggles with scoliosis or the pressures to look a certain way. “You are defined by your heart and soul, not by the way you look,” she says. “Be proud of the story you can tell and inspire people with.”